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Writers: Alexander Shestakov, Vladimir Krever Maps: Irina Onufrenya Translated by: Gregory H. Ferguson-Cradler, Lisa Woodson Art and design: Elena Sokolova Printed by: Circulation: 1 500 August 2003, WWF Russia, Moscow, Russia. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention WWF. Use of photographs from this publication is prohibited without written permission of WWF Russia. © text 2003 WWF. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER The designations of geographical entities and the presented information in this report do not express any opinion whatsoever on behalf of WWF or its supporting organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delineation of its frontiers or borders. RUSSIA, AS THE BIGGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, HAS AN INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRESERVING BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Russia occupies 17,075,000 square kilometers (11,4% of the planet’s land surface) 320 species of mammals Biodiversity in Russia includes: 730 bird species 120,000 rivers ? about 2,000,000 lakes 75 reptile species 8 biomes (polar deserts, arctic and sub-arctic tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, 30 amphibian species deciduous forests, steppe, partial deserts and deserts) 269 species of fresh water fish and 400 species of marine fish 11,000 species of vascular plants 16 terrestrial and 4 marine Global 200 Ecoregion Protected Areas Efforts to form a system of specially protected nature areas in Russia have been ongoing for more than 100 years. Russia’s first modern nature reserve was in Russia founded in 1916. At present more than 15,000 specially protected nature areas of various sorts exist in Russia, occupying a total approximately 10% of the The total area of specially protected nature areas(SPNAs) in Russia is country’s area. These protected areas helped to save about 140 million hectares (7.6% of the country’s total area). Thirty many unique species from extinction. Many protected protected areas also have the status of biosphere reserves, 28 are on areas provide environmental observation and monitoring for over sixty years. Over 60 protected the Ramsar list and 19 are listed as World Heritage Sites. areas in Russia have some sort of international status. The changing tide of socio-economic conditions at the close of the 20th Protected area category Area century brought numerous challenges to Russia’s system of protected areas. according to Russian IUCN Number total, ha % of Nonetheless, it is with confidence that we can state that the system has not legislation country area only been preserved, but has developed. A new legal foundation has been zapovedniks established, new methods for protecting natural complexes have been (state strict nature reserve) Ia 100 33 700 000 1,56 developed, and greater attention has been given to integrating protected areas into regional socio-economic context. national parks II 35 7 000 000 0,41 In a number of Russian ecoregions, the process of forming ecological federal nature reserves IV 68 12 500 000 0,73 networks has already begun. These systems are based on scientifically regional nature parks II 31 13 200 000 0,77 established plans which include protected nature areas connected by regional nature reserves IV 2 976 67 800 000 3,97 ecological corridors to protect those areas and species that are of the nature monuments III 10 024 2 600 000 0,14 greatest importance to preserving biodiversity. Such systems allow for in-situ biodiversity conservation and facilitate the maintenance of ecological balance The largest protected area, Great Arctic Zapovednik, measures in large areas. The development of ecological networks can be considered 4,200,000 hectares, while the smallest covers only a few hundred an ecological service that not only protects the environment, but also creates hectares. conditions for long term sustainable use of biodiversity resources. Creating econets will enable regional socio-economic development, increase ecological safety, and support the welfare of the local population. Legislative Groundwork and Protected Areas Russia’s networks of protected nature areas are a significant advancement in Administration in Russia the effort to preserve the biological diversity of our planet. Individual elements The 1995 federal law «On Specially Protected Nature Areas,» along of this system acts as links and support the unity of the Pan-European with regional laws and regulations, govern the operation of protected Ecological Network, the world’s first continental ecological network. areas in Russia. Federal legislation distinguishes seven categories of A. Amirkhanov Director Department of Specially SPNAs, designating regulations for their establishment, protection and Protected Nature Areas and Objects, use; the Russian Federation’s 89 administrative regions (similar to and Biodiversity Conservation Canadian provinces or American states) have the right to introduce Ministry of Natural Resources their own categories of SPNAs. Although other protected areas may of the Russian Federation operate under land, water, forest and wildlife legislation and have 1 special regimes designating resource use, they are not regarded as founding the National Environmental Education Center «Zapovedniks»; SPNAs. training the head administrators of protected areas’ and specialists in Russia’s SPNAs fall under the authority of the following ministries: regional environmental conservation bodies in the development and management of SPNAs; and developing and publishing literature on The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation these themes; (zapovedniks, national parks, some federal nature reserves and developing federal and regional laws and regulations to improve the natural monuments) and its regional substructures; establishment and management of regional SPNAs; The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation (some writing the Concept of Ecological Networks in the Russian Federationand federal nature reserves) and its regional substructures (regional developing a methodology for planning econets. nature reserves). Some federal SPNA are under the authority of the Russian Academy of From Islands to Networks Building Sciences. Regional protected areas are managed by regional executive Econets in Russia bodies, and local protected areas by local (municipal) administrations. The idea of ecological networksin Russia is not new. The basic tenets of an approach to territory-based nature conservation were proposed Developing Protected Areas in Russia: WWF’s Contribution and developed in the USSR back in the 1970s and 1980s. More Protected areas have been a key focus of WWF’s program for conserving recently, as people have expounded the idea of creating ecological biological diversity ever since the organization began. The major areas of its networks of nature areas of differing status and land use regimes work include: (including SPNAs and other areas with specific restrictions on the use developing a legislative, economic, theoretical and methodological of nature), interest in econets has been renewed. This approach has foundation for creating and managing systems of SPNAs; particular significance in Russia because of the country’s great natural, establishing new SPNAs and supporting those already in existence; economic and cultural diversity. Russia is a large, federated state offering professional training for the employees of SPNAs; where environmental protection mechanisms (including SPNAs) are seeking ways to balance the objectives of environmental protectionand based on division of authority between the federal center and the sustainable regional development while respecting the interests of the administrative regions. local population; advocating in-situbiodiversity conservation. Russia currently has a number of favorable conditions for the Between 1994 and 2003 WWF-Russia aided in a number of important development of econets: conservation initiatives: a significant portion of natural areas (over 50% of the nation’s total creating more than 30 million hectares of new SPNAs, which increased area) have retained the ability for natural self-regulation or can be the total area of SPNAs in Russia by 20% and doubled the area protected easily restored to this state; in the Arctic; in the majority of Russia’s regions, landscape fragmentation has not conducting assessments of management in all of the federal SPNAs and reached critical levels; a portion of the regional SPNAs; large intact areas exist which can preserve dominant types of setting aside more than $2 million to support existing SPNAs; ecosystems; 2 environmental protection has a long history in Russia, with great In order to fulfill these functions, new methods for territorial nature stores of knowledge and long-standing traditions in the theory and conservation must be developed: the most effective may be promoting practice of nature conservation; econets. In cases where it is not economically profitable for society to restore and artificially sustain natural processes, a more a network of specially protected nature areas already exists and effective strategy is to allow nature itself to do this work itself. there are a number of other areas with land use regulations; Enabling existing natural systems to become self-regulating is a a legal framework exists to govern environmental protection and goal of ecological networks. use of natural resources (including in protected areas) which allows protected areas of different categories. In Russia, a fundamental change in property rights to natural resources and a focus on raw materials economy pose significant threats to At the same time, the new political, economic and social conditions sustaining a high level of biodiversity. New methods are required to that have arisen in Russia since 1991 demand new approaches to the protect this biodiversity. Russia must move towards a system of long-term development of systems of protected areas. First and interlocking natural areas with varied regulations for protection and foremost, these areas should fulfill the following two functions: use of natural resources. conserving biological diversity in-situand maintaining ecological The Russian Federation is an active participant in international balance in Russia and Northern Eurasia as a whole; developments in the field of biodiversity conservation, which includes participation in the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity investing in the sustainable use of biodiversity resources in Strategy(signed by ministers of the environment of 54 European neighboring areas and integration into regional socio-economic countries in 1995). The most vital component of the Strategyis spheres. creating a Pan-European ecological network. The system of protected areas in Russia should be considered a component part of this ecological network and developed accordingly. Russia is also coordinating transborder econet development between itself and neighboring countries. Russia is prepared to maintain the ecological value and integrity of its own ecosystems, thereby providing an ecological service whose benefits will be felt around the world. Russia also counts on continued assistance from other countries in pursuit of this goal, and joins in international cooperation in territorial nature protection. These aims are based in the conviction that investing in protecting Russia’s environment will benefit the ecology of the planet as a whole. Thus besides simply taking account government reforms in the areas of conservation and natural resource use, a single document is needed to formalize the process of establishing and managing a system of ecological networks in Russia. This document is the Concept of © WWF Russia / Sergey Trepet Ecological Networks in the Russian Federation. 3 The Concept of Ecological The Conceptintroduces terminology in econet development that is new to Russia. This terminology mixes internationally accepted practices Networks in the Russian with the contemporary legal base and traditions of Russian nature conservation science. Federation The Conceptalso introduces an idea that is new to Russia: planning econets based not on administrative but natural boundaries and on the scale of large natural regions called ecoregions. WWF Russia began preparing its Concept of Ecological Networks in This Conceptfocuses on in-situbiodiversity conservation for large the Russian Federation (hereon, Concept)in 1999. The Conceptis areas while simultaneously maintaining ecological balance and setting based on current legislation in Russia, current scientific knowledge, up the prerequisites for sustainable use of natural resources in and international documents on the development of ecological neighboring areas. Because ecoregions serve as elements of the networks(econets), biosphere reserves, and biological diversity biosphere’s natural structure, they provide the optimal scale for conservation. planning and developing econets. Between 1999 and 2000 drafts of the Conceptand related materials The Ecoregion-Based Approach in Econet Planning were discussed at numerous workshops included the following groups: Ecoregion-based conservation (EBRC) provides a framework for identifying government nature conservation authorities (federal and regional), landscapes that are representative of a region’s natural biodiversity. The fundamental unit in this framework is the ecoregion. An ecoregion is defined SPNA administrative bodies, as «a relatively large parcel of land or water that harbors a characteristic set scientific institutions, of species, communities, dynamics, and environmental conditions» (Dinerstein et al. 2000). Ecoregions are used as the basis for planning and environmental non-governmental organizations. designing larger conservation landscapes and protected area systems with a regional perspective. Ecoregions transcend administrative boundaries to In 1999, in the course of working on the Concept, a sociological represent units with meaningful biological boundaries. The goal of ERBC is survey and subsequent study entitled Problems and Perspectives for to ensure long-term conservation of representative biodiversity. Developing a System of Protected Natural Territorieswere conducted. The survey questionnaire included 17 questions on various aspects of The advantages of targeting the ecoregion-level for conservation include the following: the maintenance, protection, and management of protected areas. Four the fate of natural ecosystems, endangered species, and people can be hundred questionnaires were sent out together with copies of the addressed across political boundaries; Conceptdraft. The 200 responses that were received led to significant more meaningful goals for biodiversity conservation and socio-economic additions to the text. welfare for people in the entire region can be set; The final draft of the Conceptwas sent to the Ministry of Natural conservation results that are ecologically viable become more attainable Resources of the Russian Federation in 2002, and is currently under (e.g. by setting aside networks of key protected areas, creating migration consideration to become a national strategy for developing ecological corridors for particular species, and preserving ecological processes at scales large enough to maintain natural biodiversity). networks. 4 The Concept Objectives Objectives and Purposes of Ecological Networks The Concept of Ecological Networks in the Russian Federation: Econets are created to maintain the environmental potential of natural is a set of approaches to forming and developing territorial territories in order to meet the following goals: biodiversity conservation in Russia through sustainable, functioning maintaining ecological balance and protecting ecological processes econets; at a regional level; defines basic precepts, principles, and strategic objectives and protecting biological and landscape diversity and our natural mechanisms for establishing econets, thereby creating a foundation heritage; for planning and making administrative decisions about the restoring renewable natural resources and providing for their establishment of ecological networks; sustainable use; is aimed at the unification and further development of both new and preserving unique and valuable areas; time-tested principles for territorial biodiversity conservation of offering ecological education; with the goal of integrating these principles into economic practices and civil society. monitoring the environment and producing information that enables long-term, sustainable use of the environment; The Main Objectives of the Concept include: creating recreational areas for human comfort; defining the principles and mechanisms for creating ecological providing a balance between protecting biodiversity and providing networks; for economic development of regions. identifying principles for econet management; Principles of Planning, Developing and establishing a strategy and action plan as a foundation for creating Managing Ecological Networks and managing econets in the country’s current stage of Planning, creating and managing econets are guided by the following development. principles: Regional strategies based on action plans for developing econets and Representativeness.An econet should adequately represent the natural their component parts should be developed in accordance with this biological and landscape diversity of a given territory. Concept. Self-sufficiency(ecological sustainability). An econet’s structure The provisions of the Conceptshould be taken into consideration (location, size and component parts) should enable it to function during: normally in the long term, and with consideration of potential economical development. the drafting of legal and other documents dealing with environmental protection management; Hierarchy.Large econets will be sustainable on the ecoregional level if small econets are first independently effective in nature conservation territorial planning for general and specific aspects of regional on the local level. socio-economic development; Diversity among econet elements. In order to serve its multiple territorial planning and decision-making relating to environmental purposes, econets should be made up of areas with differing protection and use of natural resources. conservation regimes and varying land use. 5 Social effectiveness.An econet should provide the ecological Core areas include animal habitats and landscapes of high importance conditions necessary for the region’s sustainable socio-economic to nature conservation, specifically: development. representative natural and semi-natural (modified by human Legal foundation. Legislation is being designed with the specific activity) ecosystems; purpose of facilitating the planning and management of econets. self-sustaining populations of species, including rare species and Established regulations must govern the designation of areas to be other species that are of particular concern; included into econets and subsequent changes to these plans. areas that provide environmental support services; Coordinated planning of econets and specific designation of representative landscapes that are particularly valuable, typical or responsibilities for their creation and management.Decisions relating unique. to the planning and establishing of econets, especially given the Core area management aims at the long-term conservation of natural interconnectedness of their many component parts (which fall into landscapes and processes within an area’s given borders. different spheres of administrative responsibility), should be made in a coordinated fashion. transit areas (ecological corridors)are areas that link core areas and Multiple sources of funding.The first priority in financing econets have specific regulations for nature management. Transit areas ensure: should be to minimize their start-up and maintenance costs. Additional sustainable links between species populations and between habitats means of funding should be sought from outside sources, including the of sufficient size; private sector, in a number of ways: providing services related to access to breeding and wintering grounds for migratory species; functioning of econets, collecting rent and other payments for use of possibility for genetic exchange among populations; natural resources in econets. geochemical cycles and processes that sustain the balance of the landscape. Structure of Ecological Networks Transit areas (ecological corridors) can be made up of connected or There are two types of areas to be included into econets: fragmented areas that together comprise a connected ecological space. specially protected natural areas(SPNA) of federal, regional and As long as geographical conditions are taken into consideration, local status. These areas are created and managed in accordance territories of many different types can be used as transit areas. with federal and regional legal provisions relating to specially protected natural areas; buffer zonesare areas that protect both core areas and transit areas from outside interference. other protected areaswith specific land use and conservation regimes are governed in accordance with forest, land, water and Buffer zones: wildlife legislation. protect core areas and transit areas from negative outside interference; Elements of Ecological Networks enlarge the total acreage of core areas and transit areas, making For an econet to be successful, its component parts and functions them the optimal size for carrying out their objectives. should include the following elements: Specific land use regulations are established for every buffer zone, core areasare large SPNAs, capable of supporting ecological balance taking into consideration the specific natural and social-economic and preserving a natural level of biological and landscape diversity. factors of the given area. 6 Planning an Ecological Network major areas of current and perspective economic development in the region; One econet that provides for the long-term maintenance of ecological features of current nature management and potential for these balance by conserving key natural elements should be established in features to change; every ecoregion. Planning econets should occur within contexts that already existing, and should take into consideration both the current the local history of nature conservation, including existing state of the environment and future socio-economic development. protected areas. An ecoregional econet’s plan (demarcation and development) should When planning econets within the borders of an ecoregion, the following issues should be considered: be approved by the appropriate federal environmental agency. Parts of the econet that fall under the jurisdiction of particular administrative the necessity of national or international reserves that provide regions of the Russian Federation should be approved by the ecological links between ecoregions (e.g. transcontinental flyways appropriate regional government bodies. stopovers, transecoregional basins) and thereby guaranteeing econet integrity at the national and international levels; Plans for econets must take into consideration of the natural activities in neighboring administrative regions that compromise de landscapes of the ecoregion (or parts of the ecoregion) and should factouncoordinated development of econets. include the following minimum standards: in regions with intact landscapes and little threat of damage to the Designing Ecological Networks ecosystem: 1) SPNAs should be organized protect all core areas; 2) land for transit areas should be reserved to avoid the negative Designing a particular econet should include the following steps: side effects of potential economic development; identifying and mapping the natural landscape structure of the in regions with intact landscapes and a gradual rise in human territory; impact (including increases in human population and economic identifying and mapping rare and especially valuable natural development): all essential elements of the econet should be objects and ecosystems; identified and placed under protection (regulations on land use taking an inventory of the existing protected areas in the ecoregion; should be established); identifying and mapping areas that meet ecological criteria for core in regions where the natural landscapes have been significantly areas, transit areas and buffer zones but are as of yet unprotected; damaged: 1) any remaining elements of the natural structure should compiling and receiving necessary approval for econet plans which be identified and placed under protection; 2) plans should be inter aliainclude information on suggested elements of the econet, undertaken to restore damaged elements. volume, costs and descriptions of the work necessary to create When identifying natural areas in need of special nature management them; and protective regulations, as well as assessing the condition of natural receiving necessary approval to reserve tracts of land and water to landscapes, due consideration should be given to the natural zoning of found protected areas in the future; the ecoregion: conducting survey work needed to create protected areas; natural biological and landscape diversity, including the spatial receiving approval for the creation of new protected areas from the distribution of the most important elements; appropriate government bodies and local administrations; 7